Horticulture

HORTICULTURE AND PLANTATION CROPS

    Nagapattinam  district is coming under Cauvery delta region and the total area under cultivation is 271583 ha. In that, Horticultural crops have been cultivated in about 17080 ha and the prominent crops under cultivation are Cashew, Mango, Banana, Guava, Tapioca, Chillies, Brinjal and other vegetables.  To increase the production, productivity and income of farmers, various schemes are being implemented through Department of Horticulture and Plantation crops. To impart hi-tech production techniques among farmers various schemes like poly house construction,  distribution of seedlings of high yielding varieties of fruit crops, vegetables and plantation crops are being done.

   The strategies of Horticulture Department are to encourage the use of hybrid seeds and quality planting material in area expansion of horticulture crops, hi-tech cultivation, high density planting, promotion of cultivating high value horticulture crops under protected cultivation and  use of micro irrigation for enhancing the production. The hybrid vegetable protray seedlings will be raised in State Horticulture Farm  and distributed to farmers at subsidized cost to increase the area and production of vegetable cultivation.

The major schemes under implementation in District.

Micro Irrigation scheme under Per Drop More Crop component of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY):

    Micro irrigation is an advanced water conservation and management technology that improves water use efficiency by 40-60%. Irrigation is a critical factor for increasing production and productivity of crop. Besides water use efficiency and  fertilizer use efficiency is also ensured by applying fertilizers through irrigation water directly to the root zones. This irrigation technology minimizes the weed growth and reduces the labour requirement. Through Micro irrigation, area under cultivation is increased with available water leads in doubling the production resulted to tripling farmer’s income. In Tamil Nadu, Government has given big thrust to Micro irrigation and it is the only State in the Country which continued its support to provide 100% subsidy to Small and Marginal farmers and 75% subsidy to other farmers. A beneficiary can get financial assistance upto 5ha. Farmers who are all already benefited can also get subsidy for renew the laterals after seven years. This scheme is implemented with a sharing pattern of 50:50 small and marginal farmer & 50:25 other farmer between Centre and State.

Supplementary Water Management Activities (SWMA):

          The prime objective of Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sinchayee Yojana (PMKSY) – Per Drop More Crop (PDMC) is to improve water use efficiency by adopting micro irrigation technologies in the country. Other interventions of PMKSY – “Per Drop More crop” is implemented as a supplementary component of creation of Micro-water storage activities and efficient water usage in rainfed areas which is proposed to be subsumed as Supplementary Water Management Activities (SWMA) and draft guidelines in this regard have been issued by Government of India. Thus, to ensure focused and outcome based interventions, it has been decided to propagate Micro Irrigation technology among the farming community by filling in the gaps for creation of water source for micro Irrigation at farm or near farm gate level through the following activities during the year 2019-20.

1. Sinking of Shallow tube wells /Shallow/medium Bore Wells in Safe Firkas.
2. Installation of Diesel Pump sets / Electric motor.
3. Laying of conveyance pipes.
4. Construction of Ground level storage structures.

Integrated Horticulture Development Programme:

Area expansion of high remunerative horticulture crops such as Vegetables, Fruits, Spices and Condiments, Flowers and Plantation crops is being promoted with adoption of high tech cultivation practices.

National Agriculture Development Programme:

National Agricultural Development Programme is a shared scheme between Centre and State with 60:40 sharing pattern. Revival of horticulture crops like choice fruits development programme, Area expansion  of fruits, vegetables, Spices and flowers. Onion Development Programme and  protected cultivation like poly green house cultivation.

Rainfed Area Development:

    The objective of the scheme is to promote Integrated Farming System (IFS) and to enable farmers in maximizing the farm returns for sustaining livelihood. Under this scheme, clusters in an area of not less than 100 Ha are chosen and the farmers in the identified clusters are eligible to avail benefits of the scheme. This scheme is implemented with a sharing pattern of 60:40 between Centre and State. During the year 2019-20, Integrated farming System, Vermi beds, Post harvest storage units, Farmers training and Demonstrations are being taken up in Nagapattinam District.

Collective Farming :

    The Government of Tamil Nadu has announced in Budget speech 2017-18 an innovative programme for organizing small and marginal farmers into Farmer Producer Groups which will be federated into Farmer Producer Organizations to promote collective farming for credit mobilization, better adoption of technology and facilitate effective forward and backward linkages.

Pradhan Mantri Fasal BimaYojana (PMFBY) Crop Insurance:

    The Government is implementing this scheme with a deep concern to protect the livelihood of the farmers suffering from crop losses by natural calamities like drought, flood and cyclone. Then New Crop Insurance Scheme “Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana” (PMFBY) conceptualized to protect the farmers from production risks, ensure food security, encourage crop diversification, besides enhancing growth and competitiveness of agriculture sector is implemented with the following objectives: Extending financial support to farmers suffering crop loss/damage arising out of unforeseen events, Stabilizing the income of farmers to ensure their continuance in farming and Encouraging farmers to adopt innovative and modern agricultural practices. Uniform cut-off date for enrolment of loanee and non loanee farmers is the other benefit that will be provided under this scheme. In Nagapattinam district, Mango crop is notified to covered under this insurance scheme. Farmers insured the crops in notified villages could get insurance amount for crop damage due to natural calamities and tremendous yield loss due to pest and diseases.

State Horticulture Farms (SHFs):

    The objective of State Horticulture farm is timely production and distribution of pedigree and quality planting materials of Horticulture crops to the farmers. One State Horticulture farm is  functioning at Vanduvancherry, Nagapattinam district.

MANDATORY DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED BY THE BENEFICIARY TO AVAIL SUBSIDY FOR VARIOUS SCHEMES

1. Application Form
2. Chitta and adangal (original)
3. FMB sketch
4. Aadhaar
5. In case of Lessee farmers, registered lease agreement should be furnished.
6. Soil and water test reports for cultivation related components
7. Passport size photos (3 Nos.)
8. Ration card (Xerox)
9. Bank passbook (1^st page Xerox) for verifying the Account Number
10. Affidavit for components wherein the assistance is above Rs.50,000/-
11. Field photos during various stages of implementation with beneficiary (for Area expansion and project based activities)